Vox built-in effects in pedal form: Acid Fuzz Sonic Boom or Reuss Repeater Fuzz?

[del]

I'm planning towards a pedal that replicates the repeater tremolo, fuzz, and treble/bass boost found in Vox guitars and basses like the Starstream, Ultrasonic, Grand Prix, Delta, Sidewinder, etc.

The two I'm most familiar with are the
Acid Fuzz Sonic Boom: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdU5mu1OlfA
and the Reuss Repeater Fuzz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc4R9OhvvVI

They both sound great to me! The former has a little more sonic control if I were to want it, but the latter still nails the vintage circuit's sound.
The former is a little more expensive than the latter, but... is the price difference worth it?
The former is less available than the latter, but... should I wait for it?

Are there others that should be on my radar.

This is mostly for playing at home and recording, though I guess it could hit a stage under some unusual-but-not-impossible situation.

Help me, Offsetters!

[UlricvonCatalyst]

I have a Catalinbread Repeat Percussion based on the Vox circuit, but the guy who sold me it said it was a special order, so no idea if it was ever a production run.

[PorkyPrimeCut]

I have the first version of the Reuss Repeater Fuzz, and a Vox Ultrasonic. I actually helped Anders with the voicing of his first build by recording some sound clips of the individual effects

It's a great pedal & gets pretty close to the original. However, I just watched his demo of the MKIII and it sounds waaaay better.

A large part of the Ultrasonic/Starstream sound is the Ferro-Sonic pickups, maybe even the hollowbody construction of the actual guitar, and I think the evolution of his pedal has enhanced this. It sounds wider, deeper & more spacious, whereas the older version maybe sounds a little more compressed. Also, the fuzz is more accurate than the MK1 version - a very nasal, "bee in a jar" kind of tone. Minor details that could easily be lost on an "untrained" ear but if you want something faithful to the original it's an important improvement.

I have no experience with the Acid Fuzz model but am sure it's also a fantastic pedal. The guy who builds them, as you may already know, is/was the BJM guitar tech and has very solid experience with this line of Vox guitars & built-in effects.

It looks as though the Acid Fuzz has a few more switchable & dialable options but a big game changer the Repeater Fuzz offers is the introduction of a send/return loop so you can add a wah pedal to the signal chain, making it even closer to the original onboard circuit.

I'd buy the Repeater Fuzz.

[Tafarel]

I had the Repeater Fuzz and it does, indeed sound great, but...

If you need it to hold the tempo -- my band does for some songs -- it won't do it. If the voltage in your circuit drops the tempo also drops. For instance, we set the correct tempo in our practice space. We then set up for a gig and attempt to play the song but the tempo from the Repeater has changed. One would think that would be simple tweak, but no, the adjustments are difficult to make because the slightest movement changes the tempo a great deal. We would often drop the songs from our set that needed that persistent chop (and correct tempo) simply because it was so hard to dial in.

I ended up selling it on.

I ended up with a Mattoverse Tremstortion, which doesn't have the drifting tempo problems. However, it wants to be first in the chain as it tends to duck a little if it gets hit with a slightly enhanced signal.

[del]

Thanks for the info!

Both pedals are currently backordered/in-production, so I'm eager to hear more of your thoughts!

[elektrovac]

Thanks for the info!

Both pedals are currently backordered/in-production, so I'm eager to hear more of your thoughts!

The Reuss Repeater Fuzz is in stock. I have just had to temporarily close the shop for new orders, because they were piling up, and I need to free some time to pack and ship a ton of Plasmatron / Stuart Braithwaite pedal preorders. The shop opens again on November 15th with two Repeater Fuzz pedals in stock :-)

[del]

Two-year followup:

I have a Reuss Repeater Fuzz MkIII and is is a spot-on reproduction of those Vox effects!
It is fantastic!

[Dr Tony Balls]

I made something like this many years ago for a custom order.

[

[BlueMelody]

I haven’t tried the Reuss so I can’t speak to it, but the Sonic Boom is superb. I’ve had both the silicon and germanium versions, and ultimately kept the germanium.

[del]

I haven’t tried the Reuss so I can’t speak to it, but the Sonic Boom is superb. I’ve had both the silicon and germanium versions, and ultimately kept the germanium.

I have an Acid Fuzz Repeater (the repeat percussion as a solo pedal) which is fantastic and I wish I had access to a Sonic Boom as I'm still very eager to try it out.

That said, the Reuss Repeater Fuzz really nails these sounds perfectly, and in a smaller pedal. I can hit Spacemen 3 styles, and all sort of other garage/psych/gaze, without a hitch!

[elektrovac]

Two-year followup:

I have a Reuss Repeater Fuzz MkIII and is is a spot-on reproduction of those Vox effects!
It is fantastic!

Thanks - It's discontinued, and at blow-out sale at the moment, btw. Very few left.

There's a Mk IV coming early next year, which will be a step away from the ultra vintage-correct theme of the Mk III. It will be back to a more intuitive two-in-one pedal, each half (fuzz and repeater) getting a dedicated output stage, allowing for independent volume adjustments.
The treble/bass booster circuit will be integrated in the fuzz half, which gets a three-way mode selector for fuzz/fuzz+tone/tone settings. The Repeater half is identical to the Reuss stand-alone Repeater, including the 'MIX' control, which is a clean blend, making it possible to diminish the spikes of the repeat percussion effect without messing with the original circuit.
The tone shaping circuits (fuzz, treble/bass booster and repeaet percussion) are still identical to the vintage Vox effects, including the vintage correct transistors, but there's more modern circuitry surrounding them, compared to previous versions of the Reuss Repeater Fuzz, to make the level controls, mix control and mode selector possible. As a plus, the pedal will now have a modern, buffered output signal (stille mechanical true bypass) and the fuzz circuit is no longer sensitive to being first in chain.

[Musjagjazz]

Is the Vox fuzz similar to a Fuzz Face? Similar transistors or something else entirely?

[elektrovac]

Is the Vox fuzz similar to a Fuzz Face? Similar transistors or something else entirely?

It’s a very basic vintage two-transistor type of fuzz, and in that, it is quite similar to both a fuzz face and the Tonebender Mk 1.5, though all three has different voicings. They don’t offer a huge amount of fuzz and sounds best when cranked.
It’s a silicon fuzz using BC108 transistors, which can also be found in early silicon fuzz faces.

[del]

Is the Vox fuzz similar to a Fuzz Face? Similar transistors or something else entirely?

It’s a very basic vintage two-transistor type of fuzz, and in that, it is quite similar to both a fuzz face and the Tonebender Mk 1.5, though all three has different voicings. They don’t offer a huge amount of fuzz and sounds best when cranked.
It’s a silicon fuzz using BC108 transistors, which can also be found in early silicon fuzz faces.

It doesn't sound quite like a fuzz face. It's much buzzier and, even with the tone control, it doesn't get particularly bass-y or "wooly." That said, it's a fantastic psychedelic fuzz and when used WITH a bass guitar it is excellent and the bass shines through!

[Musjagjazz]

There is also the OSO Marauder which uses the UK version of Vox guitar effects as the source for sounds



[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x8SzplqJN ... cnVkZXI%3D